John Z Black
Brunswick, ME • (207) 245-1010 • contact@johnzblack.com
Operation Power Off Round 2: 53 Domains Seized in Sustained DDoS Takedown
Europol's Operation Power Off 53 domains seized, 75,000 users warned, 25 search warrants served. Law enforcement has moved from arresting admins to systematically dismantling the ecosystem.
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The W3LL Takedown Is the Third Major PhaaS Bust in 2026. The FBI Is Running a Campaign.
FBI Atlanta and Indonesian police dismantled W3LL, a full-service phishing-as-a-service platform that had been running since 2019 and was explicitly designed to bypass MFA. It's the third major PhaaS takedown in 2026, and that pattern matters more than any single bust.
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$20.88 Billion Gone: What the FBI's New Cybercrime Report Actually Says
The FBI's IC3 report crossed $20 billion for the first time. Crypto fraud, AI-enabled scams, and elder exploitation tell a story the headline number doesn't capture.
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Russia Convicted 26 Cybercriminals, Including a Hacker the US Has Been Hunting for Years
Russia sentenced 26 members of the Flint24 card fraud network, including a man on the US Secret Service's most-wanted list. It looks like accountability. It isn't.
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Operation Leak Is Still Playing Out, and Russia Just Arrested One of Its Own
LeakBase's alleged admin was arrested in Russia. RedLine's alleged developer was extradited to the US. Two arrests, two continents, and one genuinely unusual week for cybercrime enforcement.
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Mario Kart Got Two Years. The Guy Who Sold the Keys Got Nearly Seven.
Two Russian cybercriminals were sentenced the same week. One ran a botnet that hit 72 US companies and got 2 years. The other sold network access to ransomware crews and got nearly 7. The gap says something real about how DOJ views the ransomware supply chain.
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Operation Synergia III: 45,000 Malicious IPs Down, 94 Arrested, 72 Countries In
Interpol's Operation Synergia III ran six months across 72 countries, sinkholed 45,000 malicious IPs, and made 94 arrests. International cybercrime enforcement is getting better at this.
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Interlock Ransomware Had a Cisco Firewall Zero-Day Before Anyone Knew It Existed
The Interlock ransomware group exploited a critical Cisco ASA/FTD zero-day for weeks before disclosure, marking a real shift as criminal groups gain access to capabilities once reserved for nation-states.
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He Hacked Companies, Then Billed Them $75 Million to Recover From His Own Attacks
Angelo Martino allegedly orchestrated ransomware attacks and then helped victims pay ransoms through DigitalMint -- the firm where he worked. Federal charges now implicate the co-founder too.
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Dark Web Infrastructure Is Getting Harder to Monetize
Operation Alice took down 373,000 dark web sites. European prosecutors indicted three for the UniCredit breach. The pattern: law enforcement is attacking the infrastructure layer, not just individual offenders.
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INTERPOL Just Sinkholed 45,000 Criminal IPs and Arrested 94 People Across 72 Countries
Operation Synergia III was one of the biggest cybercrime infrastructure takedowns ever. 45,000 malicious IPs redirected, 94 arrests, 72 countries involved. Here's what that actually means.
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Trump's Cyber Playbook: Big Offense, Fewer Rules, and a Promise to Pay Victims Back
The White House dropped a new National Cyber Strategy and a cybercrime victim restitution order in the same week. More offense, less regulation, and a plan to repay fraud victims with seized criminal funds.
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